Author's note: Feel free to leave a review on how you feel the series is going and where you'd like to see it go. Constructive criticism is also appreciated on my writing style.

Chapter 12: An Awkward Walk

When Fireheart got back to camp, Darkstripe stopped him again.

"Tonight, I've got an idea for a training session. Meet me at the edge of camp right before the sun touches the horizon."

Somehow Darkstripe's tone warned him the session wouldn't be fun. When the time came, he found Darkstripe impatiently waiting. Darkstripe turned to him.

"This training session is going to feel weird, and I promise you there are no feelings behind it, but we are going to go on a walk. You are going to lead me somewhere. The entire time I'm going to be pressed closely up against your side. This is not romantic! This is how close I'd be to you in a fight. You and I need to develop an instinct on how the other moves. I'll be able to feel your muscles tense without it being visible when I am that close. You'll be able to signal me things like turning directions by subtly flexing your paw or tensing your shoulder. Its up to you to figure out which signal is most comfortable while I just follow."

Darkstripe said it would feel awkward, and he was not lying. The tom was pressed so tightly against him that it would be easy to confuse the two as a couple. Fireheart felt desperate to make some space but restrained himself. The sooner this was done, the sooner he could escape the odd tom. At first Darkstripe struggled to stay in step with the ginger tom, but soon the only times that pressure let up was during turns. Darkstripe could still feel his trainee tense from the feeling of discomfort, so he decided to try a new tactic.

"Let's continue our question game as we walk. I think it'll take your mind off how you feel."

Fireheart pause which made Darkstripe accidently take a halfstep ahead before the strange cat backtracked to match.

Darkstripe spoke again, "I'll let you take the first question, and I won't turn it around at you."

Fireheart decided this was the time to get a little leverage on the cat that irked him so much.

"How about a secret that you think would make the clan look at you funny."

"Blackmail this early. I must be rubbing off on you more than I thought. Ok. I'll tell you something interesting. Do you have an idea what a twinsoul is?"

Fireheart shook his head.

"It's a rare thing that can happen to a kit before it is born. Sometimes if the mother is sick or not enough food is fed to the queen, a twinsouling will happen instead of a stillbirth. A kit is absorbed by its sibling to grant them the strength to survive. It can also be called ghost kitting. A number of kits are born that is not equal to the amount first counted by a medicine cat. Twinsoul kits often bear traits of the lost sibling. For example a twin soul of two males often will be especially large and have an especially aggressive personality. A twinsoul of two females will be smaller but more flexible. They are also likely to be extremely passive unless they have maternal instincts. Then they are worse than an adder. I am a male twinsoul who absorbed my sister. Would you like to guess how that affects me?"

Fireheart peered at Darkstripe more closely. Despite how he held himself, Darkstripe had a feminine physique. Yoou would'nt notice unless you were looking for it.

"Do you have female parts?"

"No, but I do believe a get a bit of a female's urges. Toms catch my eye a bit too easily. It doesn't mean I dislike mollies."

Darkstripe looked lost in thought before continuing.

"They say the absorbed twin goes to Starclan like a stillbirth, but I don't believe that. I think she pushes her will on me sometimes. I get aggressive in defense of kits. Its why I wanted to kill Yellowfang so badly. Sometimes I swear I can hear her whisper in my ear. She's why I went for the name Darkstripe. Her name given by our mother was Stripekit. It pissed my mother off when I became a warrior, but I hope you can see why I value fame and legacy so much. I have to make enough for two."

The two padded along in silence for a few heartbeats before the tension began building again. Darkstripe decided to prompt another topic.

"So, is there any cat you've got your eye on?"

"Well, I have been talking to Sandpaw more, but I used to have a crush on Graystripe until…"

"Until?"

"He found someone else."

Darkstripe nodded solemnly.

"That's too bad. I'm surprised you were into a tom, but I'm in no place to judge. What do you look for?"

"It was his kind and childish nature that attracted me. Sandpaw's assertiveness is also a draw. What about you?"

Darkstripe thought a moment before replying.

"I've probably at one point had a fantasy about every adult cat in the camp, but what draws me most is how much I trust them. The intimate knowledge that I could rest my life in their paws and not worry that they'd ever betray me for anything is what I find attractive. Unfortunately, Longtail isn't into toms and Tigerclaw already has a mate. I have to settle for my fantasies and quietly pining."

"I notice you said Tigerclaw has a mate and not isn't in to toms."

"He'd be into toms if it helped his ambition at all. Tigerclaw is best defined by his pride and ambition. He's loyal to the code mainly to spite his father."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tigerclaw's father is a clan leader turned traitor. He left to become a kittypet when Tigerclaw was just a kit. He hates that fool more than he hates anything. Its his ambition to be more than Pinestar ever was."

"Is that why he hates kittypets?"

"That's part of it. The other was his mentor. Thistleclaw was a brute in everything he did. He was absurdly aggressive and would pick a fight on any patrol, but he was loyal to the point of zealotry. Tigerclaw was his apprentice and Thisleclaw did everything in his power to instill in him the same morals he had. Tigerclaw's not as ruthless, but he is just as strict."

"I suppose if anyone would know it would be you."

"Yes. My apprenticeship could easily be akin to walking the Dark Forest, but it made me what I am."

Fireheart wasn't sure that was a good thing. Since he was closer to Darkstripe than usual, he noted the faint scars crisscrossing beneath his fur. There were probably more than there were stripes on his pelt.

"He trained you roughly?"

"Yeah… But it made me better. I wasn't as good as other apprentices in combat since I wasn't as big and didn't have the agility, but I got better. I'd start winning by predicting my opponents and letting them wear themselves out. I never bested Tigerclaw, but I've left him a scar too. Its not a big one, but its mine."

"So, he'd train you with claws out and have you busy all day."

"Yes? I don't see what's wrong with that. I was a bad apprentice, so he did what it took to fix me. He was trying to fix Ravenpaw before he 'died.' I didn't argue because that's how I was trained. Thankfully my apprentices were much better. They never needed claws out training. and I gave them more freedoms for it."

Fireheart felt a light pain in his heart. Darkstripe was a deeply traumatized cat who never even knew he'd been gaslighted. Fireheart couldn't bring himself to say anymore as the two finished their walk. Darkstripe even seemed proud that he'd finally figured Fireheart out. Fireheart had a fitful sleep that night. He couldn't get what Darkstripe said out of his head. Having Ravenpaw run away was the right decision after all.